Re-Animation
by Scytherageroses
Summary: When evil plagues the city, it's up to the former heroes of the Three Kingdoms to awaken and defeat it. Arc One: Northern Fury, Part Two. With panic setting in, a familiar scenario sets forth in front of my eyes, full of roses and ice. I didn't want to believe it for a second...
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue: Northern Fury: Part One**

Screaming. All I could hear was screaming.

I popped awake. Another nightmare.

Every night I dreamed it.

The flames, the screams. The fire so hot against my body. I could still feel it.

My father's eyes looking at me with sorrow.

I couldn't stop these dreams..nightmares.

Sitting up in my bed, I looked outside the window. The moon was still out. It was a quiet night.

The stars were out, shining, mocking me.

I breathed, looking at my phone, putting on music to calm me down.

A band from my home country...despite it being loud and frantic, melodic with keyboards and growling vocals, it was enough to put me back to sleep.

And back to my nightmares.

Once again, I popped awake. The blankets covered my body, keeping me warm, but it was the  
>flames that truly heated me.<p>

So real...

Fire used to be something I loved. I loved the sight, the feel, the scent.

Until it took my father away.

The flames danced upon Oda manor in Helsinki city.

Set our home, and my heart ablaze.

I escaped, but I didn't want to live.

Not when I could still hear my father screaming from across the world.

Even though it's been a few days, it's still fresh in my mind.

It's the only thing I hear. His screams, his laughter, his pleading me to live.

I stared into nothingness.

My room was dark, but I could still see the sparks, still see the flames from across the room.

Silhouettes danced through the halls alongside me as I walked.

I saw Akechi Mitsuhide with a sword through his chest. Watched the blood drip down his slender body.

Watched him collapse to the floor, his hair wrapped around him as his life flew away.

It all played like a bad movie.

I was in the arms of Kobayakawa Takakage, we ran through the manor and escaped through a glass window.

I was told to never look back.

Scared and alone in Philadelphia...

I didn't want this.

It was the tail end of summer. September, to be exact. My birthday was coming soon, the first, without my family.

The cool air embraced me. How I loved Autumn. I took a few steps away from my home, and began walking down the street.

Four AM, who would dare bother me?

A city that was known for its crime rate. Yet here I am, alone, walking around.

Anything to get my mind off these nightmares that plague me.

Further and further I walked. With no destination in mind, I let the winds take me.

The city was empty, dead.

I walked past the newly innovated city hall, and looked at the empty ice skating rink.

Perhaps...

No, I kept walking. Not even realizing that someone was there. An average sized man with black hair and white gloves.

His dark eyes watched my every move, and I was oblivious to it.

I walked past city hall, and into Chinatown. Despite the late hour, few restaurants were still open. Signs were lit up, cars, and people walked past me, talking among themselves.

I stopped at the corner of 10th and Vine.

There was a statue, a shrine, almost of a man dressed in robes and armor.

He had long hair in a ponytail, cold eyes on a beautiful face, wielding a dual-bladed sword.

My fingers traced the lettering.

"P-Prince Souhi. Hero of the Three Kingdoms..."

It was like something had slapped me to the floor. I was stuck in place, my heart sank in shock.

Why did it feel so odd?

"Prince Souhi..."

"Hero of the Three Kingdoms.."

It was so long ago...yet this city seems to remember.

I looked into the statue's eyes again, when a voice called out to me.

"Excuse me, miss?"

I looked up and gasped. I swear I thought it was the statue.

"Miss?"

I turned and gasped again, looking into the eyes of a tall man in a white suit, standing before me.

He had a white suit and hat on, with a teal-colored shirt on underneath. Long black hair, pale skin and freezing cold blue eyes finished his look.

He was terrifying.

"What's a pretty little thing like you doing out here so late?" he asked, obvious worry in his voice.

I frowned, and furrowed my brows upon being called pretty. I hated it when people complimented my looks. Especially people I didn't know.

"Just taking a stroll around the city. Didn't realize it was illegal." I snapped, keeping my hands on Prince Souhi's statue. I kept my back turned to the man, but glared over my shoulder.

A warm feeling suddenly shot into my body. Or was I just imagining it?

But it turned to cold once again, when the man spoke,"It's not, but it's late out, and dangerous."

"I knew the consequences when I stepped out my front door."

"Do you live around here? You must be new to the city with that accent."

"Do not assume anything of me. And it's not your business where I live."

He laughed. Such an evil and sinister laugh.

"Don't be such an imbecile. I'm only trying to keep you safe. My name is Sima Yi, I am.."

It was like an alarm just went off in my head.

The rest of his words drowned out, and I felt another arctic chill running through my body at the mention of his name.

Sima Yi

Sima Yi

The name made me tremble..

Once again, I looked up at the statue, as Sima Yi kept speaking. "Did you lead me here?" I followed the wind, I didn't have a destination in mind, but I stopped here...

"Admiring my work..?" he asked. I tilted my head. "My family and I built this. After all, Prince Souhi was one-of-a-kind." he added. I turned to look at him. "You speak as if you know him." I said. He chuckled. "I'd like to think I know everyone. As one of the most powerful men in the city, you kind of have to." "Powerful?" I asked.

"I'm a businessman. See all those buildings over there? I own them. If you're not afraid of heights...perhaps you'd like to go up there someday." he replied.

I looked up at the giant building, standing over all the other ones. "Comcast building. We're responsible for providing cable for the entire city and the suburbs. In addition, we own a huge portion of the Philadelphia Flyers and the Sixers."

Looking upon that building, it brought shivers down my spine. Before I knew it, Sima Yi stood right behind me. I gasped and jumped when he took my hands into his. "Come. Let me take you home. It's far too late for a beautiful woman like yourself to be out like this."

"Get your hands off me." I snapped, ripping away from him.

My shoulders hunched, I got into a defensive position, when Sima Yi laughed again. His laugh was so terrifying...

"You're adorable. The offer still stands. I'd hate to see you hurt in this city."

"I can take care of myself." I said angrily. "Of course you can. Well...I do hope to see you again, my dear...farewell." he said with a nod, and got back into his luxury car. I watched as it drove further down the street, and out of my sight. I sighed, looking back at the statue.

"You led me here for a reason, Prince Souhi..." I snapped. I turned and began to walk back home, the lights upon Chinatown dimming.

The city was dead. Empty. 4:30AM, and I was the only one out, save for homeless men and taxi drivers. I swear if any of them come near me...

I began walking further down Arch Street, when I heard footsteps behind me. Gasping, I saw a man reach out for me, and I ducked out of the way.

Perhaps Sima Yi was right. This city really is dangerous.

The man was homeless. His hair stringy and dead, with a stringy and smelly blond beard. His breath stunk of cigarettes and alcohol, his clothes were dirty and dusty. His skin was black with soot, his teeth black as well.

"Where are you going, honey?" he asked, his words slurred in drunkenness.

He reached out for me again, and I gasped in fright, clenching into myself. Not that I couldn't defend myself, but I wasn't ready.

But no hand touched me.

To my surprise, when I opened my eyes, there was a man with a long red jacket and jeans in front of me. He had pale skin and short reddish brown hair, with an angry expression on his face. He clenched the man's fist and said,"Pick on someone your own size.", and punched the man in the face.

My would-be robber fell to the ground, and the man turned to me.

"What are you doing out this late?" he asked. I looked up at him. His eyes were a dark brown. They were soft, but worried. "I...I couldn't sleep. So I went wandering around the city.." I replied. He raised an eyebrow at my accent and said,"You must be new here. Well...it's a pleasure to meet you. I am Ling Cao."

He held his hand out to me, and I stared at it like it was on fire. "I...thank you." I said, turning and running away.

As I ran, I heard footsteps. He was following me.

"Yo! Get back here!" he yelled.

Further and further I ran. Past Broad Street and all the incoming cars. Past LOVE Park, through part of the Parkway, and back to my neighborhood.

I lost sight of the man.

I breathed slightly as I walked in my house, sliding down my door when I closed it.

"My god..."

Quickly, I ran to my room and changed into my sleepwear, getting into my bed.

As I slept, little did I have any idea that Ling Cao was outside my bedroom window.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter One: Part Two**

The rain was cool against my skin. Though it physically made me feel better, I couldn't help the shivers as each dropped touched me.

It got progressively worse as I walked further. By the time I made it down the street, I was nearly soaked, when a person came beside me, opening an umbrella over my head.

I jumped and turned, only to see Sima Yi's shining eyes looking upon me with a smile.

A smile that sent icy shivers through my body.

"We meet again, my dear." he said. "Indeed." I said. He chuckled and said,"Still not very talkative, eh? Well that's alright..."

"Where are you headed?" he added.

"Exploring the city..." I replied.

He chuckled again.

"I was just going to my favorite little restaurant here in Rittenhouse Square..I'd love it if you could join me."

I shook my head.

"I insist. My treat." he said.

Once again, I politely declined.

"Thank you, Mr. Sima, but I-"

"Please, call me Zhongda." he said, eyes twinkling.

"Zhongda?" I asked. "In my culture, we have these things called Style Names, or Courtesy Names. It's something friends call each other." he replied.

I looked at him like he had just said the craziest thing. And maybe he did. Friends? He thinks we're friends?

"Offer still stands...and I won't take no for an answer, pretty lady." he said.

"Very well..." I said with a defeated sigh.

"I mean...I know...maybe you're a bit stubborn, and maybe you don't want to be dependent on such a rich man, but I really do enjoy the company. So I thank you, Miss...err...I didn't get your name..." he said, as we began walking towards the heart of Rittenhouse Square.

I giggled and said,"Try to guess."

"Well, you're foreign. Northern European, so it could be anything. Hilda! That's it, it's gotta be Hilda!" he said, when we took our seat at a small breakfast eatery on 17th street.

"Nope, that's not it." I replied.

"Susanna?" he asked.

"Nope."

"Maria?"

"Nope."

I giggled. "I'm Finnish, let that be a clue."

His jaw dropped. "In that case, I give up. That's one language I never wanted to dabble in. Too many letters, not to mention I'm horrible with pronunciations."

"So do you concede defeat?" I asked, when my glass of orange juice and his coffee arrived at the table.

"Hmph."

It was all he said, immersing himself in his glass. He looked at the menu, I did as well, but I couldn't help but notice that he was staring at me from the top of the menu.

He has these striking blue eyes, mix that with his pale skin and long black hair that almost also looked blue...I couldn't deny that he was an attractive man.

Rich, check.

Handsome, check.

Nice, check.

If only I could be more lucky...

"Order anything you want, it's on me." he said, reaching out to take my hand. I gasped when it brushed against mine, and clenched my hand to myself.

"Ah, I apologize, my lady." he said, giving me an apologetic smile.

Still, he stared at me, paying no attention to what he wanted to order. I couldn't help but be creeped out. After all, I was an impressionable young foreign beauty, and he was an older rich man...

I didn't see a wedding band on his finger, so I had assumed he was single. Maybe he's divorced? Maybe he never had children?

"Sorry if I scared you.." he said. Though it was meant to be nice, the way he said it made me tremble inside.

A waitress appeared before us, and I noticed that Sima Yi's eyes lit up again. "Ah, Mister Sima. So nice to see you again." she said, her voice seemed nice enough, but it was also rather robotic. I looked at her; a small girl with pale skin and long blond hair. She had brown eyes, and her expression didn't seem to change once.

How odd...

"I see you have a guest." she said, looking at me. I looked back at her and nodded. "My dear, this is Yuanji, she's a friend of my son's." Sima Yi said, looking at me. I looked at him in surprise. "You didn't mention any children...now I'm curious." Yuanji looked at me with a raised eyebrow when she heard my accent. "Finnish. She's from Helsinki." Sima Yi said,"anyway, I apologize, I neglected to tell you, I have two kids, Zhao and Shi." "I bet they're adorable little tykes." I said with a smile.

"At least you got the adorable part right." Sima Yi said with a smirk. I looked at him with a surprised look again. Just how old was he? Is he implying his two kids are my age?

Before he could speak again, I noticed a tall, hunky tan skinned man with long brown hair approach us. Waitress Yuanji politely moved aside and the man grabbed the seat next to Sima Yi. Yi looked over at the man and smiled, his eyes lighting up again.

"Zhao, what are you doing here?" he asked. I stopped myself mid-sip with my tea cup in my hand, looking at the man he called Zhao. Then I remembered Sima Yi said his son's name was Zhao. Was this his son? I noticed the man wouldn't stop looking at me, then to Sima Yi, then to me again.

"Dad...want to explain what's going on?" he asked, his voice laced with annoyance. I looked at Zhao to Yi and then back. They looked absolutely nothing alike. Maybe he's adopted?

"Zhao, this is my friend, I met this lovely lady last night on the way home from work. Then I ran into her again today, talk about convenience." Sima Yi said. Zhao looked at me with a dark look in his eyes. "She looks younger than me, dad, I don't know what you're trying to do here, but-"

"Zhao! Stop it. This is not a date..." Yi said. "You're serious, right? You used to take mother here all the time, and now-" Zhao snapped. " Zhao! I will not stand for this.." he stopped and then turned to me,"I apologize, my dear, but I must get going. I'll see you again later?" he asked. I simply shrugged. As Zhao and Yi walked away, I noticed Zhao turned around and glared daggers at me.

"I wouldn't think too much of it. Mister Sima's wife died two years ago, and it's still fresh in their minds..." Yuanji said, collecting the menus and tea cups. I noticed he didn't leave any money on the table. "That Zhao looked nothing like Sima Yi." I said. "He takes after his mother." she replied, her voice still robotic.

Either she didn't give a damn about anything, or something was seriously wrong with this girl. I didn't want to stick around and find out.

When she turned away, I left the table and began walking further into Center City.

I weaved past people, groaning to myself about the crowds. Helsinki was never this crowded. I rolled my eyes, swerving past two schoolgirls running down the sidewalk laughing and screaming. It reminded me of back home. Of how much I missed my friends.

As I walked further, towards 16th street, I bumped into a man with a white shirt and blue shorts. He had dirty-blond hair spiked up and was rather muscular. Before he could say anything, I quickly ran away, but when I turned to look over my shoulder, I noticed him looking directly at me.

Like everyone on the sidewalk had suddenly disappeared, and we were the only ones there. His eyes were a light blue, and they were warm. I saw his lips move, as if to speak, but I turned away again, running further down the street. I turned the corner at 11th street, when I noticed that Ling Cao man from last night.

My god...today is just full of ups and downs isn't it..? I'm convinced this life is still trying to make me suffer even after I had already lost everything...

Luckily he didn't notice me, or at least I think he didn't..

I had lost track of my surroundings. As if my feet had a mind of their own, I kept walking, with no destination in mind. Just like last night. 10th street...where Prince Souhi's statue was...and I was at 10th once again. Only this time further south onto Chestnut Street.

The people walking didn't matter. The Route 21 and 42 buses didn't matter. The cars didn't matter. Everything was blanked out, I couldn't hear or see anything else but what was around me. Fire came into my vision, and I began breathing heavily. Was this what it was like to have a panic attack?

What was this city doing to me? I never used to run like this in Helsinki, well, father wouldn't let me out of the mansion unless it was with Mitsuhide or Takakage or Toshiie or Keiji..., and I never panicked like this...maybe it was because I'm all alone now?

Alone and terrified...

I curled up against a building, embracing myself when an older, yet attractive woman approached me. She had reddish brown hair tied in a pony tail with a purple dress suit on. She had a large and gaudy green necklace on, and looked at me with concern in her eyes.

With the backdrop the city around me, I turned my head, trying to breathe, when I noticed that I had stumbled onto the middle of the street.

She pulled me into the sidewalk and said,"It's alright, calm down..." I tried to fight out of her embrace, when she gripped me tighter. I was suddenly reminded of my father's wife, Saito Kicho, and again, I tried to fight out of her hold. "Stop resisting, little girl, I'm not here to hurt you.." she said. Her voice was calm and gentle.

"It's alright...precious...your panic attack is over...why don't you come inside..?" she said.

I looked around, trying to gather my surroundings, when we went into her store.

She described this area as Jewelers' Row, a special place in the city designated for jewelry shops. All lined up perfectly in competition with each other, but for some reason, this specific store was swamped. "I'm having a special sale." she said with a smile,"all my jewelry here is 70 percent off! Won't you love to try something on?"

"I...no thank you.." I said, feeling overwhelmed by all the people in the store. I noticed their glares, the owner wanted to use me as a model, and I was having no part of it. Glared at once again. I wonder who else in this city I could piss off? I used to get off to making people angry, but without a safety net here or support, I was more scared than anything else.

"I insist. You're so pretty...and your reddish violet hair will go so well with this diamond emerald necklace." she said, her eyes peering into my skin.

Again, I shook my head, and tried to escape, when she grabbed my arm.

"Hey! Let go!" I yelled.

Suddenly, the lights went out in the place, and I felt my body chill frozen.

The sound of bodies falling made my eyes grow wide, and when I turned back to the woman, who had deteriorated and turned into a monster before my very eyes.

I screamed in fright, my feet frozen to the floor.

She did not just...turned to a monster?! How?!

But I couldn't stick around and figure it out, I had to get the hell out of here, and quick!

With determination in my eyes and a newfound strength, I ripped myself from the monster's grip, and flipped backwards. As I made it back to my feet, the monster's arms stretched out at me, but I blocked them and knocked them away from me. Once again, I flipped out of the way, dodging each attack it threw at me.

But I was outnumbered.

The monster had stopped attacking, and I watched with wide eyes as it floated ten feet in the air and yelled,"After her!", causing all the fallen patrons of the store to awaken and walk towards me.

"Jesus Christ..." I said to myself, watching as the zombified women approached me.

But they never made it to me. To my surprise, there was an avalanche of ice shards separating me and the enemy. "Get out of here." a voice said. I looked around for it, it was a male's, deep and full of worry, as the store became foggy with chilly ice.

Ling Cao?

The man stood in front of me, but the fog made it almost impossible to see him. All I could make out of it was a slender body in a black suit and trench coat with what looked like a white mask over his eyes and white gloves.

He dove in the air, pulling out an ice needle and shooting it at the monster, piercing through its heart, as I was about to be eaten alive by the zombified women.

A shrill shriek flew threw the air, and the women fell to the floor. They collapsed all at once, and the fog began to dissipate. Once the coast was clear, I looked around, surrounded by fallen women. The chill was gone, and in its place was a red rose on the floor, around ashes of the monster.

...roses? Wait a second...

When I reached out for it, I stopped when it suddenly turned icy.

"Don't touch it..." a voice said. The same voice from...

I looked up at the window sill and saw the man from before looking down at me.

Where had I seen this all play out before...?

"I will remember this. Farewell." he said, before flying out the window. Now this was getting all too weird. Monsters? Zombies? Ice flowers? And now Tuxedo Mask?

...no.

And once again, I felt the panic rising through me.

I passed out, but little did I know that I had fallen into someone's arms. A warm, caring pair of arms.


End file.
